Improvement in life-preservers



No 102,823. I PATENTED MAY 10, 1870,;

L. JACOBS.

LIFE PRESER-VBR,

whilst} LYMAN JACOBS, OF ALBION, MICHIGAN.

Letters Patent No. 102,823, dated May 10, 1870.

IMPROVEMEKT m mrn-eansnnvnns. W.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of thesame I, LYMAN Jsoons, of ,Albion, Calhoun county, in the StateofMichigan, have invented certain Improvements in Liie-lireservers, ofwhich the following is a specification.

Nature and Objccls of the Invention. The nature of my invention consistsin so adapting suitable mechanism to a water-proof casing for theemployment of two ball-valves located ina cylinder,

the one above the other, and connecting with the interror of the casing,by means of which the impure atmospherc may be ejected and the pureadmit-ted, at the same time that the water is prevented from entew ingtherein.

Description of flu; Accompanying Drawings.

Figure 1.is a plan view of my life-preservcr. Figure 2 is a-plan view ofthe-cylindrical valve rcceptacle G..

Figure 3 is a plan view of the cylindlical valve reof the body beinginverted in the water bythe force lot a heavy wave.

ceptacle I.

Figure 4 is a vertical section of the combined rah ular device.

General Description.

A is the casing for the body, which is shaped from the arms down, to thefeet, inclusive, to correspond with the form of" a man, but made large,to permit its being easily put on the body, and the armlets made fromthe hand to reach above the head, of a width and shape correspondingwith the dotted lines 3 s and thelines of the arms H; and said casing orcovering for. the body can be made of any other well-known waterproofmaterial.

a a, are the legs or boots of the casing, the lower portion of which areprovided'with weights rigidly s'coured thereto at a. r

The infolding of said casing may be prevented to a greater extent thanas shown at 13,-by the steel pieces (I.

B is that part of the casing or covering which en-' outer cas ng; thewhole is then inserted as aforesaid, and the outer and inner casingsecurely ihstened'to; gether. Said strips project vertically from theupper part of the chest (1, above the head to the point (1.

O G are floats, which may be made of cork, and sccured to the casing soas to cover the Pack oft c hand, and are comprised of a nhmber smallpieces, so

united togetl'ier as toiadmit of the opening and closing,

of-the hand. I

13 It represents two glasses or goggles provnledin the casing for thepurpose of vision, which are firstmserted in metallic plates, the latterbeing riveted to the casing, or otherwise constructed in any of theforms which ordinarily obtainin diving armor, and others may surroundthe-head. I F is a .float or life-preservcr, secnreiy attached to thecasing, on the exterior thereof nd located immediately underneath thearms at the 1p1ts. It may also be made elastic, or otherwise J bad to htthe body very closely, in order the better to prevent the possibleescape of air from the upper part to that part of the body of the devicebelow the float aforesaid. However, said tightening ,of the float 1 toprevent the passage of air to that part 'of the casing which 1s locatedbeneath or lower downthan the same, is only requisite in the possiblecontingency of the position G is a cylindrical receptacle of a hsilvalve, having the pipe 6 leading therefrom into the interior of thecasing aforesaid, to a point in close proximity to the month of theindividual encased.

g is a concave ball receptacle, located. in the cylinder G, the ball prcmail'iing'in the concavity thereof when at rest.

The interior or central portion of said ballp is com posed of lead orother heavy metal, which 13 covered with India rubber, in order thebetter to present an elastic surface for closing the orifice c of thecylinder or pipe loading inside of the casing to the mouth of the personinca-sed in the life-preserves; but said pipe can only be closedmomentarily, and when time closed will iuclose inside the casing anample supply'of atmospheric air to supply the wants oi the individualincascd.

The, cylinder G is provided with the flange H, which is riveted to therubber casing.

The cylinder G is rigidly attached to the cylindrical receptacle I, asshown in fig. 4.

I is a continuation of the cylinder of the valvnlardevice, and isprovided with a ball, located in the lllinterior thereof, and restingupon the bars K K, which are crossed or intersect each other. q

Cylindrical receptacle I has projecting irom thenpper part thereof afunnel, f, corresponding m width G, in which it is located, and

ameter of the pipe e1 The upper part of the interior of the framei iscom cave, and so adapted to the convexity of the Indiarubber ball'i, asthat when the latter impinges against the same, the orifice o of thefunnel is closed tightly and prevents 'the.ingress oi" water. Si idcylindrical or valvular device may he made either metallic or ofgutta-percha, and riveted, as shown at z, to the rub her casing, or itmay be permitted to" swing loosely, attached to the casing at H, asaforesaid.

It will be observed, from the above-described construction of thevalvular device, that this life preserver is adapted not only to meetthe requirements of such an article in calm waters, but more especiallyfor those the most boisterous, and that the'clastic hollow hall nearestthe water is yet elevated to such aheight he raised from the cross-barswhen acted upon by high above itthat it will only K K, on which itrests,

, waves, and that, as the waves in their action are intermittent, theintervals will afford ample time for the inhalation of pure atmosphereand .the exhalation of that which has been breathed into the lungs.

device, shall he snfiicient to always hold the'body' in anerect-position said contemplates the possible mentary inversion of thebody, in the most turbulent or stormy sea, in which event the upper orweighted ball 1), being heavier than the water, would close the uppervalve, it off from in grass into the rubber casing,

The combination Witnesses v H. 0. Urrmmsx,

"W. Beams.

It is proposed that the weights a, in the feet of the but the valvulararrangement aforei contingency of the mo-' which could only arise andthereby shut ing a suffic ent quantity of atmospheric'ainforbreath: V

